Process for sorting cocoa-beans.



J. M. HBRRON.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1,

PATENTED MAR. 10, 1908.

PROCESS FOR SORTING 0000A BEANS.

APPLICATION. FILED JUNE 13.1905.

1 "Ft! mm? 5 N -mm jzivewtoz V (9, Mm M ww 93n f mam 7M heating process.

ijrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES Mi -HERRON, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO OEY'LON COCOA & COFFEE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PROCESS FOR SORTING COCOA-BEANS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES M. HERRON, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Hyde Park, East Orange, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Process for Sorting Cocoa- Beans, and in order that my invention may be practiced by those skilled in the art I give the following specification.

My invention relates to a process for se arating cocoa beans according to their qual it or grade, and has for its object a practice rapid and reliable method for separating ripe from unripe cocoa beans.

In order that my invention may be understood and the advantages and novel features thereof appreciated, it is necessary to define the terms employed in describing the same and the present state of the art. After harvesting, and before coming on the market, cocoa beans are stored in non-metallic, preferably wood, bins for a time suflicient to allow of heating or fermenting. Those beans which have properly undergone the heating or fermenting are designated ripe or fermented beans, and those beans wluch have not roperly undergone the heatingare terme unripe, or .unfermented beans. A marked change results in those beans which have properly undergone the Such beans have lost their natural blue color, and have assumed the chocolate color. The have also suffered a markedchange in avor, having lost to a large extent the raw, acrid flavor of the unri e bean, and assumed the agreeable choc-o ate flavor.

In a given mass of beans subjected to this heating or ripening rocess a considerable proportion will not ave ripened in the time when the remainder have properly ripened. Consequently in beans as found on the market a certain proportion are ripe and another roportion are unripe. The market value of a consignment of beans is based upon a rough estimate of the proportion of ripe beans which it contains.

The method at present practiced for grading or valuing a consignment of beans is to take handfuls of beans from different sacks or from different portions of the mass, split some of the beans thus taken and note the color. According as the proportion of ripe Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 13, 1905.

Patented March 10, 1908.

Serial No. 265,089.

- beans is large or small, so is the market value of the lot determined. It will readily be perceived that this method is, at best, very crude, and imperfect, and that even the best grade of beans must contain a considerable proportion of unripe beans which degrade the market value as well as the intrinsic value of the whole. By my-invention, I am enabled to make, practically, a'perfect separation of the ripe from the unripe beans, thereby greatly increasing both the market and the intrinsic value of the beans, since a much better product may be made from a lot of beans all, or practically all, of which are ripe, than from an equal lot which contains a proportion of unripe beans,

by submersion in water. The unripe beans have apparently a greater specific gravity than the ripe beans and are submerged or sink, whereas the ripe beans float at or near the surface of the water. I have discovered further that the separation is more effectively and rapidly accomplished when the temperature of the water is raised. The temperature of the water I have found to give t e best results is from 8590 F.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a form of apparatus for carrying out my invention.

Figure 1 of these drawings shows my apparatus as a Whole. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the separation tank, taken on the line C, D, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a transverse sec-' tional view of the separation tank taken on the line A, B, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional detail view of one of the links or members of the conveyer belt. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective vlew of one of the buckets on the elevator belts.

Similar parts in the several views of the drawings are represented by the same reference numerals.

1 represents the separation tank which may be of anysuitable construction and dimensions, partly filled with water, the level of which is indicated by numeral 2. The conveyer belt 3 is supported and guided over ripe from unripe beans may be effected sprockets 4 and 5 fixed to shafts 6 and 7 respectively, which have suitable bearings in or secured on the side walls of the tank. The belt is driven from any suitable source of power by belt or other connection to driving pulley 8, secured to a shaft 9, suitably journaled and supported in an end wall of the tank. Secured to the inner end of the tank 9 is a bevel pinion 10, meshing with a similar pinion 11, secured to theshaft 6.

The conveyer belt 3 may be of any suitable construction to carry the cocoa beans through the watenin the tank. The floor of the belt or of the separate links thereof, should be of such a character as to permit of escape of the water when the belt carries the beans above the water level and to allow free access of water to the beans on the belt when the belt is submerged. A suitable construction of belt is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings, in which the same isshown composed of links 12, the side members 12 of which are elevated to form retaining walls for the beans. These side members are beveled at their ends, as indicated bythe numeral 12 so that when the belt is flexed where it passes beneath the level of the water in the tank, these beveled ends abut, forming, practically, a close joint, as shown in Fig. 2, and also forming continuous side walls to that portion of the belt which carries the beans below the level of the water and prevents them from being washed off the belt. The links 12 are suitably connected together by links 13, the connection being formed by pivot pins 14, as shown.

The floor of the belt 15 is formed of reticulated material, such as wire cloth. As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the conveyer belt 3 is arranged centrally of the tank. The floor of the tank 1 is made double by means of a false bottom 16. Into the space 17 between the bottoms of the tank steam or other heatin fluid is caused to flow by means of suitable pipe connections 18 and 19, for the purpose of raising the temperature of the water in the tank.

At each side of the conveyer belt 3 is arranged an elevator belt 20, suitably guided over pulleys 2121, mounted on a shaft 22 which is suitably journaled and supported in the side walls of the tank. At their upper ends the elevator belts 20 pass over driving pulleys 23 mounted on a suitable shaft 2 1,

which is driven by any convenient connection with the source of power. The elevator belts 20 are provided with buckets 25 which are suitably constructed to pick up and retain the beans and allow the water to flow out, being provided for this purpose with a reticulated bottom 26. The conveyer belts 20 pick up and convey the beans from the tank and discharge them into a chute 27, which leads to a drying apparatus 28 of any suitable construction, such for instance as indicated in the drawings of the centrifugal type where the beans are dried ready for use for market. The belt 3 discharges into a chute 29 leading to asimilar drying apparatus 30.

My invention is practiced, with the above described apparatus, as follows: The tank 1 is filled with water to a suitable level with respect to the belt 3, this level being such that the belt at its middle portion dips beneath the surface of the water, and at its ends is raised above the surface of the water. Cocoa beans are fed on to the belt 3, which carries the same into, through and below -the level of the water. The water, it is understood, has first been brought to the proper temperature,-say about 80 to 90 F.by means of the heating medium led into the double bottom of the tank. The unripe beans beingheavier remain on the belt as the same passes below the water level. The ripe beans float off the belt 3 and flow sidewise where they are picked up by the conveyer belts 20 and dis charged into the drier 28. The movement of the elevator belts 20 through the water in most cases causes a sufficient movement of the water to cause the ripe beans to flow sidewise from the second belt 3. The unripe beans which remain on the belt 3 are dlscharged into the drier 30. Those beans which are in an intermediate condition that is partially ripe remain suspended between'the level of the water and the belt. If such beans are sufiiciently ripe so as to remain suspended above the edges of the side pieces 12 of the links they are considered as sufficiently ripe to be athered with the ripe beans. float off the conveyer to one side or the other, and are picked up by the elevator belts. Those beans which are not sufliciently ripe to remain suspended above the sides 12 of the links remain within thesides of the conveyer and are carried away to the drier 30 as unripe beans.

Beans are delivered into the drier 28 of a practically uniform quality that is, they are all ripe beans, and as such have a greatly enhanced value on the market and yield in manufacture the highest grade of product, their flavor and color being ofthe best, and uniform throughout the mass. So far as I am aware cocoa beans of a unform ripe quality, such as those coming from the drier 28 constitute a new article of commerce. The unripe beans coming from the drier 30 are converted into ripe beans by subjecting the same to heating or fermentation process in non-metallic ves sels as above described to ripen. The treatment with tepid water is favorable to this subsequent step of ripening, since the presence of moisture and heat assists in the fermentation. The drying in centrifugal These driers removes the surplus water on the surface of the beans; but does not thoroughly dry their interior. 7

By my presence I am enabled to make a practically perfect separation between ripe 10 bulk of cocoa beans, but also enabling products of a much higher grade to be manufactured from such beans.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The process of se arating ripe from unripe cocoa beans, whic consists in submerging the mass containing ripe and unripe beans in tepid water and separately atheringthe beans which float at or near t e surface of the water and those which sink.

2. The process of separating ripe from unripe cocoa beans, which consists in submerging a mass containing both ripe and unripe beans in water at a temperature of about to F. and. separately gathering the beans which float at or near the surface of the water and those whichv sink.

3. The process of treating a mass which contains both ripe and unripe cocoa beans, which consists 1n carrying said mass into and throu h a body of tepid water, separately colTecting and drying those beans which float at or near the surface of the water, and separately gathering those beans which remain upon the carrier, removing the water adhering thereto, and subjecting said beans to a ripening process, substantially as described.

JAMES M. HERRON. Witnesses WILLIAM P. HAMMOND, HENRY C. WORKMAN. 

